Lisa McPherson: The Clearwater Police Department Files

Lisa McPherson, a Dallas native, a line dancing enthusiast, and a dedicated Scientologist for most of her adult life, died on December 5, 1995, after 17 days in the custody of the Church of Scientology. She was 36 years old.

The Clearwater Police Department investigated her death. The State of Florida ultimately charged the Church of Scientology with two felonies: abuse/neglect of a disabled adult and the illegal practice of medicine. Although the state later chose not to pursue those charges, a wrongful death case has been brought by her estate. The suit was settled on May 28, 2004.

This site presents the information collected by the Clearwater Police Department in their investigation of Lisa's death. It offers additional information to help put the evidence in context, but tries to avoid drawing conclusions or offering opinions.

The logs kept by the Scientologists who watched over Lisa in the days leading up to her death are very informative. You may also want to read excerpts from Lisa's Scientology ethics files, which were also included in the police department's investigation.

The chronological document listings provide a useful glimpse of the documents available and offer some insight into Lisa's life and the progress of the investigation. Of particular interest are the documents from the last two years of her life, 1994 and 1995, and from the first two years of the investigation, 1996 and

1997. The period from 1988 to 1989 is also of interest; Lisa was on staff in 1988 and joined the Sea Org in December, resulting in fear of being assigned to the Rehabilitation Projects Force (RPF) and eventually leaving the Sea Org and returning home to Dallas.